AJC grant assists Holocaust survivors in Greece

ATHENS (JTA) — The American Jewish Committee is providing emergency financial aid to help Holocaust survivors in Thessaloniki, Greece, pay for medical care and every day expenses.

The aid is necessary due to the economic crisis in Greece, which has stretched the Jewish community’s resources to the limit, according to a statement released by AJC.

"We feel privileged to assist our cherished friends in Thessaloniki, who are few in number and face extraordinary financial challenges at this critical time,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris, who has visited Thessaloniki numerous times in recent years. “The Thessaloniki Jewish community’s determination to provide essentials to improve the quality of life for the remaining Holocaust survivors is laudable and deserves help."

Before the Nazi invasion of Greece, Thessaloniki was a center of Sephardic Jewish life in the world. During World War II, some 96 percent of the Thessaloniki Jewish community was deported and killed in the Nazi death camps.

“Through this generous gesture, you have given a prime example of solidarity, a fundamental element of world Jewry,” David Saltiel, president of the Thessaloniki Jewish community, wrote in a letter thanking the organization.